Australian criminals and their Crimes. Con artists, scum bags, murderers, corrupt cops, pollies, rapists and paedophiles will find themselves in this blog. It was expanded to also cover those that ought to be charged for their idiotic disgusting behaviour. Usually high-profile people who think they are above the law

TAKE 2

New trial date: former detectives Glen McNamara and Roger Rogerson will appear before the NSW Supreme Court on August 18. Photo: Rocco Fazzari

Former detectives Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara will face a new trial over the murder of Sydney student Jamie Gao on August 18, following the discharge of the jury in their first trial.

Justice Geoff Bellew told the NSW Supreme Court that the new trial date for the pair had been confirmed, lifting a non-publication order made on Tuesday.

Mr Rogerson, 74, and Mr McNamara, 56, are accused of being part of a “joint criminal enterprise” to murder Mr Gao, 20, in a southern Sydney storage unit on May 20 last year.

Twenty-year-old Jamie Gao was killed on May 22, 2014. Photo: Facebook

It is alleged that they stole 2.78 kilograms of the drug ice from him and then dumped his body off the coast of Cronulla. It was found six days later.

Half way through the trial’s second day on Tuesday, Justice Bellew discharged the 15-member jury for legal reasons which cannot be disclosed.

Both accused have pleaded not guilty to murder and drug supply.

Counsel for Mr McNamara, Charles Waterstreet told the jury on Tuesday that Mr Rogerson had been solely responsible for the murder.

He said the 74-year-old had shot Mr Gao twice in the chest and then threatened to kill Mr McNamara and his family if he did not help him to cover up the crime.

No evidence was presented to support these claims before the jury was discharged.

Counsel for Mr Rogerson, George Thomas, did not have the opportunity to address the jury before members were discharged.

On Tuesday Justice Bellew said the NSW sheriff had confirmed that a court was available on August 18 to begin a new trial, and he formally set down that date.

TWO former detectives charged with murdering a Sydney student will go on trial before a jury today. Glen McNamara and Roger Rogerson face charges of murdering 20-year-old UTS student Jamie Gao in May last year. They are also accused of drug supply. Their trial at the NSW Supreme Court at Darlinghurst is expected to get underway later this morning. Police have alleged the pair lured Gao to a storage unit in Sydney’s southwest, with Mr Gao attending the meeting carrying almost three kilograms of the drug ice, or crystal methamphetamine.

Roger Rogerson.Source: DailyTelegraph

Former detective Glen McNamara being escorted to prison after his arrest.Source: News Corp Australia

Police have alleged the trio were spotted on CCTV entering the storage unit. Ten minutes later, cameras allegedly captured McNamara and Rogerson leaving, dragging a surfboard bag. Mr Gao’s bound body was found floating in waters off Sydney six days later. Both McNamara and Rogerson deny the charges and entered not guilty pleas at a previous hearing. In January they waived their right to a committal hearing in order to get to trial as soon as possible.

The body of Mahmoud, a 16-year-old former Granville High School student, was found beaten and unrecognisable in a derelict house on Belmore Street in Fairfield East on May 17.

The Fairfield house where the body of Mahmoud Hrouk was found.

It is understood Mahmoud met Terkmani, whom he considered a friend, at Villawood McDonald’s on May 16. The pair arrived at 6.30pm and stayed for about an hour.

A 22-year-old man has been charged over Mahmoud Hrouk’s sexual assault and murder. Photo: Facebook

Mahmoud called his mother about 9.40pm but the call cut out.

The bike he had ridden to the McDonald’s was seen on Mitchell Street that night and found on Melaleuca Street the next day.

Mahmoud’s mother, Maha Dunia, has described her son as “a beautiful boy” and her best friend.

Police said he was hardworking and had no criminal history. Their investigations are ongoing.

Terkmani will appear in Campbelltown Local Court via video link next week.

Police have revealed Mahmoud Hrouk, 16 was sexually assaulted before he was beaten to death.

His bloodied body was found by his family in an abandoned house after a trip to McDonald’s. In a disturbing twist, police now say 16-year-old Mahmoud Hrouk was also sexually violated.

Panicked relatives stumbled across his body in Fairfield East in Sydney’s west, two months ago. He had been bashed to death.

Detectives hunting his killer have now revealed Mahmoud was sexually assaulted either before or at the time of his death, Fairfax reports.

The level of brutality Mahmoud endured has shocked police.

Mahmoud Hrouk, 16 was reported missing on Saturday May 16, 2014. He was last seen alive at a Villawood McDonalds.Source: Facebook

Maha Dunia with a photo of her murdered son Mahmoud Hrouk.Source: News Corp Australia

The derelict house in Villawood where Mahmoud Hrouk was murdered.Source: News Corp Australia

“In my experience, I’ve never seen anything like it … it’s gut-wrenching. What happened to this boy is terrible; it shouldn’t happen to anyone,” Detective Sergeant Olivares told Fairfax, describing the boy as a “model child”.

“This is separate from organised crime; it’s a more individual, more opportunistic crime. We certainly don’t think it was planned.”

Police are struggling to find a motive for such a violent murder.

He was found covered in wounds and suffered internal injuries also. Until now, it was thought that was the only horror he endured, but after the sexual assault revelations, the full extent of Mahmoud’s suffering has become clear.

Whoever killed Mahmoud Hrouk could possibly have taken his bloodied clothing, including running shoes and long dark pants, police say.

Mahmoud’s mother Maha Dunia last spoke to her son at 9.40pm on Saturday, May 16, when he asked her to pick him up from a friend’s place on Mitchell St but the call cut out halfway through the conversation.

He was last seen eating a burger at Villawood McDonald’s about 6.30pm.

The family of Mahmoud Hrouk need to know why their son was brutally killed.Source: Facebook

The next morning, after searching the streets of Villawood and Fairfield East, the family were told to check a vacant house on Belmore St, where local teens had been seen gathering in ­recent months.

It was inside they made the traumatic discovery.

“I need to know: why would you bash a 16-year-old? Are you Muslim, Jewish, Christian? You cannot do this in any religion. You cannot kill,” Ms Dunia told the Daily Telegraph.

“God takes the soul from us, not you.”

Holding a photo of her son, Ms Dunia said: “I need to know why. I know it’s not going to bring my son back but I need to know why. I need to know what did he do to deserve this.

“No mother in the world deserves this pain. To lose a son, that’s it. You feel like the whole world doesn’t mean anything to you. You feel like something from your heart is taken out.”

When the phone vibrated in my pocket in September 2007, I had no idea the incoming call would plunge me into the middle of Australia’s biggest Mafia investigation in decades.

I was also unaware that the caller, who identified himself as “Stan”, was, in fact, a driven and entrepreneurial drug trafficker from Griffith, NSW, called Pat Barbaro.

Federal Police and Customs agents with some of the Ecstasy and Cocaine after the drug bust. Photo: John Woudstra

Barbaro had organised the world’s biggest ecstasy shipment into Melbourne in June 2007. But by the time he rang me, three months later, he was unable to locate the shipping container packed with his $500 million load.

Calling me, and then sending a series of texts from several mobile phones registered in fake names, was part of a desperate plan by Barbaro to either locate his shipment or confirm his suspicions that the police had seized his drugs.

He was hoping I would reach out to police or waterfront sources to do this, and then report my findings. To say his plan failed spectacularly would be an understatement.

Unbeknownst to either me or “Stan,” police were intercepting the text messages, which included detailed descriptions of the size and likely location of the drug shipment. These text messages, and analysis of the corresponding metadata, were used to prove Barbaro had organised the drug shipment.

But that was not the only implication. Over the past six months, federal police have used the scenario as a case study to convince the Federal Government of the need to pass laws ensuring telcos store the metadata generated when a person uses a phone or computer.

As the hulking Barbaro walked around Melbourne’s CBD, meeting bikies, South Asian money launderers and other Mafia bosses, he carried up to a dozen phones. One was his personal mobile, with a subscription under his own name.

The other phones were “burners”, which were registered in false names and regularly replaced with new phones. The problem for Barbaro is that these burners were hitting the same mobile phone towers as his regular phone.

Barbaro’s personal phone and the burners were pinging off the same towers so often that police were able to prove the burners belonged to Barbaro.

According to the Director of Public Prosecution’s Andrea Pavleka, the texts sent from the “Stan” burners “showed that Barbaro had critical knowledge of the contents of that container”.

“That was a terrific link for the prosecution to have in this particular matter.”

Back in 2007, I knew none of this.

In fact, had I known my communications were being intercepted, I would have been furious.

Many of my sources are banned by their employer from speaking to me, or any other reporter, so the prospect of any innocent whistleblower being outed would have concerned me greatly.

I only learned this many months later of the interception. From all the checks I have since conducted – and there have been many – no source of mine was compromised and the AFP agents involved acted professionally and with regard to the sensitivities of my trade.

That said, ever since 2007, I have implemented a range of measures to protect sources’ communications — steps not unlike those suggested by Malcolm Turnbull during the recent debate about metadata.

Ever since the phone buzzed that day in my pocket, and “Stan” briefly entered my life, I’ve been especially conscious about how a person’s communications leave a trail, no matter how careful they are. It is a lesson the now jailed Barbaro has, no doubt, also learned well.

Watch part two of a joint Fairfax and ABC Four Corners mafia investigation on ABC1 8.30 PM Monday.

An Australian Mafia boss allegedly paid $2.2 million in bribes to judges to get lighter jail sentences, and the Mafia have approached defence force personnel to supply them with military grade weapons, top-secret police intelligence reports reveal.

The reports also reveal the price of some food – including the price of certain types of seafood in Sydney – may be more expensive due to Mafia control of the supply chain across Australia.

Fairfax Media can also reveal that Jupiter’s Casino on the Gold Coast has become a key gambling site for Mafia figures banned over money laundering concerns from Crown Casino in Melbourne and Star City in Sydney.

Two top crime figures, including a Mafia godfather, banned from the Sydney and Melbourne casinos recently gambled large amounts at Jupiter’s, effectively rendering anti-money laundering efforts useless.

A search this month of the business holdings of all the key Mafia bosses in NSW, Victoria and South Australia also reveals their continuing control over multimillion-dollar wholesale, construction and farming businesses, including a major winery and several large fruit orchards.

A joint Fairfax Media and ABC Four Corners probe has obtained a series of confidential Australian police reports written and circulated to state agencies between 2003 and 2014.

The reports provide startling revelations about the depth of Calabrian Mafia’s infiltration into Australian life and the ambitions of the criminal group.

They reveal the group known as ‘Ndrangheta, or the Honoured Society, continues to control both legitimate and illegitimate businesses, with money earned both from the drug trade and from stand-over and extortion within pockets of Australia’s fresh food trade, trucking and construction industries.

A 2013 file, circulated among agencies, warns that the Mafia poses as “extreme” organised crime risk to the nation.

It echoes similar warnings made in a 2003 Australian Crime Commission assessment that revealed the Mafia had “infiltrated members into, or recruited people from, public organisations, government and law enforcement agencies with the lure of money”.

“[Mafia] family associates are employed in many areas of government enterprise, as well as in the telecommunications industry; bookmaking/racing; car dealerships/car repairs and hydroponic shops,” the 2003 report states.

In Victoria, Mick Gatto is named as a crime figure who works closely with the Calabrian Mafia while running his own crime syndicate.

“Mick Gatto has shown a high awareness of law enforcement methodology and has taken a proactive approach in accessing corrupt law enforcement personnel and information to protect his ventures,” one report says.

In NSW, another Italian crime boss “is involved in a number of legitimate businesses … including car dealerships and night clubs, and is associated with at least one ex-AFP member and one corrective services person”.

NSW police intelligence also describes how detectives had discovered how “Italian Organised Crime members have actively approached members of the Australian Defence Forces for the purpose of acquiring firearms and ammunition”.

The NSW police also gathered information in 2003 that Mafia figures in Griffith, NSW – the group’s traditional stronghold – had been “receiving information from a person connected to the police in Griffith and the court”.

“It is alleged that a Sydney based IOC [Italian Organised Crime] member received light sentences in the past because he paid off [Sydney] judges, costing approximately $2.2 million.

“The protection provided to IOC members by other members comes in many forms, ranging from the simple criminal code of silence or perjury, to more sinister acts involving corrupt influence [and] abusing a position of responsibility.

“IOC groups in NSW have infiltrated members into, or recruited people from, public organisations, government and law enforcement agencies with the lure of money.”

Fairfax Media has recently spoken to senior law enforcement sources who identified a judge allegedly involved, saying he has since left the bench.

The NSW police have also discovered “information [that] suggests a monopoly exists … at the Sydney Fish Markets where private arrangements need to be made for their purchase”. The report says these arrangements allegedly involve cartel behaviour, including price fixing and threats of violence.

Police have warned that Mafia identities maintain control over the food supply chain via their ownership of farms, wholesale businesses and transport and freight firms.

Reception centres owned by Mafia bosses in Adelaide and Melbourne have been hired by unwitting police and politicians to hold functions.

An intelligence brief circulated to police across Australia in 2011 states: “The Calabrian Mafia … readily uses fruit trucks to transport cannabis to the Melbourne Fruit and Vegetable Market [from Griffith, NSW and other regional sites] to be further distributed. The trucks usually have the cannabis hidden among containers of fruit and vegetables.”

In 2003, NSW police confidentially warned that: “Investigations developed intelligence of IOC figures involved in both the Sydney fruit markets at Flemington and fish markets, as well as the Belconnen markets in Canberra”.

“[Wholesale food] markets continue to provide controlled linkages to the interstate trucking and transport industry. Again, elements of the transport infrastructure are controlled by families with connections to IOC elements. There is continuing intelligence of the exploitation of this type of freight for trafficking illicit commodities.

“The exploitation of the markets and interstate freight remains a significant area for environmental hardening and law reform.”

The revelation that Mafia figures banned from NSW and Victorian casinos over money laundering concerns are simply heading to the Gold Coast casino suggests another major weakness in anti-organised crime measures.

Police have previously warned that Mafia “identities were using casinos to launder funds through, with significant money movements through Jupiter’s Casino and Crown Casino Melbourne”.

“I want to assure the Victorian people that there will be a thorough investigation into what caused this riot, how this major security breach happened and the response to it.

“This criminal behaviour will not be tolerated.

“I think it’s fair to say that I am deeply relieved that no-one was seriously hurt and this is in no small part due to the efforts of our brave men and women in Corrections Victoria and Victoria Police.”

Corrections Commissioner Jan Shuard said all prisons across the state would remain in lockdown for the time being.

She said the smoking ban probably was the reason for the riot but that the ban would still be enforced from today.

Ms Shuard could not put a dollar figure on the amount of damage inside the centre but said prison cells, windows and units were damaged.

She said work had already begun to assess the damage and make repairs.

All 802 prisoners were accounted for.

Ms Shuard said most prisoners returned to their cells on instructions from police and corrections officials.

Police used capsicum spray to subdue those refusing to cooperate.

“I would say by the time we got to the end of the exercise there was around 50 prisoners out and about that we had to bring back under control but that took a long time,” Ms Shuard said.

“The numbers decreased as the day went on.”

Most prisoners returned to cells voluntarily

Ms Shuard said they were enacting a prison recovery plan to fix the damage and secure the prisoners in their cells.

“So we’ll go to a restricted regime for a period of time and then when we assess its safe to do so we will start moving back to a normal regime but it’ll take a while,” she said.

“Those people that might be involved in these incidents don’t get the same freedom of movement that they would’ve had previously.

Every Victorian should be in no doubt that those who have acted in a criminal way will feel the full force of the law.

Daniel Andrews, Victorian Premier

“There are very restricted regimes for people that cause disruption to the prison system.”

Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Stephen Leane said police took their time, planned the operation to regain control of the prison and then executed that plan.

“It took several hours to give the prisoners who didn’t want to be involved in any confrontation with police and corrections staff an opportunity to return to their cells.

“The vast majority of prisoners on the night returned to their cells and as they were confronted during the evening the remaining prisoners surrendered and were accounted for.”

Assistant Commissioner Leane said some of the inmates involved would probably face new criminal charges.

“I think there’s quite a few of them [who] will be thinking that they may be doing some more time than they weren’t planning on doing, yes,” he said.

Ms Shuard also promised a wide-ranging review of the handling of the incident.

“If criminal acts have occurred within our prison that would be a matter for Victoria Police to pursue any charges,” she said.

Mr Noonan praised prison staff, police and emergency workers for their “bravery in a difficult and dangerous situation”.

“I want to assure the Victorian people there will be a thorough investigation into what caused this riot, how this major security breach happened and the response to it,” he said in a statement.

Premier angry about riot, promises independent inquiry

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said what happened at the remand centre was “completely unacceptable” and that criminal behaviour would be investigated and prosecuted.

“We’ll investigate what went on and how it was allowed to happen,” he said.

“The circumstances around this will be fully and frankly investigated with independent oversight.

“We’ve got to learn from this and ensure that everything that can be done to avoid it ever happening again is done.”

Mr Andrews said “very significant damage was done” that will come at “considerable cost” to the Victorian taxpayer.

“Every Victorian should be in no doubt that those who have acted in a criminal way will feel the full force of the law,” he said.

Fiona Patten, the leader of the Australian Sex Party, urged the Government to overturn the smoking ban.

“It’s naive to think that when you erode the rights of an individual who has precious little freedom in the first place, they are going to just sit back and take it,” she said.

“Obviously they are going to feel further marginalised and this is exactly what has led to the trouble at the Ravenhall Maximum security facility.”

But the Premier promptly rejected that idea.

“It will not be changed. You don’t reward that sort of appalling behaviour by bringing about policy changes,” he said.

Heavily-armed police have stormed a maximum security prison after 300 criminals began rioting over a smoking ban.

Officers wearing vests, helmets and carrying shotguns charged the prison about 3:20pm in an effort to retake control, after riots broke out around 12.20pm on Tuesday. A police drone also hovered above the centre.

Inside the prison, water cannons were used to control prisoners, which included rival bikie gangs locked in a bitter war, according to Channel Seven.

Dozens of riot police stormed the centre and continued into the night with heavily armed police monitoring the entrance at 11pm,The Herald Sun have reported.

Fires burned well into the evening inside the maximum security prison complex.

On the loose: About 300 criminals are rioting and guards have been overrun at a Melbourne prison, with more than 100 officers trying to stop

Dozens of riot police stormed the centre and continued well into the night with heavily armed police monitoring the entrance at 11pm

Corrections Commissioner Jan Shuard said ‘the perimeter of the prison is secure.’

Cheering and shouting was reportedly heard from inside the prison walls at 9.15pm.

‘We have worked very closely with our staff across the state in the implementation of this smoking ban and they have been a part of the process,’ she said.

‘This is very disappointing that this occurred today, we have done an enourmous amount of work to prepare for this, we obviously have contingency plans for all events within our prisons.’

Up to two fires are burning inside of the building and 100 inmates are yet to surrender.

Two loud bangs were heard from inside the prison around 6pm but it is unknown what was the cause, The Australian have reported.

Other reports say riot police are used tear gas inside the prison and a group of about 15 criminals forced their way into the control room in the late afternoon, according to The Age.

Emergency services remain at the location including fire fighters and Victoria Police special operations armed with shields and helmets.

Footage by helicopters above the Metropolitan Remand Centre at Ravenhill in Melbourne’s west, shows people covering their faces, bashing doors and carrying large sticks and bats. Black smoke was also seen in the sky above the centre.

Port Phillip Prison, a mere four kilometres away, was also put into lock down following a fire at their facility, but it has since been contained.

Going in: Heavily-armed police have stormed a maximum security prison after 300 criminals began rioting over a smoking ban

Fight back: Officers wearing vests, helmets and carrying shotguns charged the prison in an effort to retake control

Cheering and shouting was reportedly heard from inside the prison walls at 9.15pm

Emergency services remain at the location including fire fighters and Victoria Police special operations armed with shields

Smoke can be seen rising from inside the prison’s perimeters and up to 100 prisoners are yet to surrender

Notorious Australian bikie, former enforcer Toby Mitchell, is being held in isolation inside the facility

Notorious Australian bikie, former enforcer Toby Mitchell, is being held in isolation inside the facility. Mitchell, an infamous member of the Bandidos gang, has survived two shootings – one in which he was shot five times in the back.

‘Police are currently responding to a disturbance at a correctional facility on Middle Road Ravenhall just before 12.30pm,’ a Victoria Police statement read.

‘We will thoroughly review how this came about, how we responded to it and what we might need to do in the future,’

Police workers from the Critical Incident Response Team are seen outside Ravenhall Prison

Many hundred pages and thousands of comments have been made about GBC on this site. Use the Menu up top follow the history folks or start here…

May 19, 2015

Gerard Baden-Clay will appeal his conviction over his wife Allison’s murder in August.

The Queensland Court of Appeal has confirmed the year’s most hotly anticipated hearing will take place on August 7.

A jury convicted the former prestige real estate agent of his wife’s murder following a high profile trial last year.

Police photograph of Gerard Baden-Clay. Photo: Supplied

He was sentenced to life in prison with a non-parole period of 15 years.

Mrs Baden-Clay’s body was found under the Kholo Creek Bridge 11 days after her husband reported her missing on April 19, 2012.

Gerard Baden-Clay has always maintained he is innocent of his wife’s murder.

Following a 21 day trial in the Supreme Court of Queensland last year, Baden-Clay was found guilty of killing his wife at their home in the leafy western Brisbane suburb of Brookfield.

Her body was dumped about 14 kilometres away, on the banks of Kholo Creek at Anstead.

Baden-Clay’s trial heard he was embroiled in an affair with his long-time mistress Toni McHugh and was under significant financial pressure, owing hundreds of thousands of dollars to friends, family and ex-business partners at the time of his wife’s disappearance.

His murder conviction marked a dramatic fall from grace for the former real estate agent, who prided himself on his lineage as the great-grandson of famed Scouts movement founder Lord Robert Baden-Powell.

His lawyers lodged an appeal two days after the guilty verdict was returned.

Baden-Clay claimed he was the victim of a “miscarriage of justice”, in the appeal papers lodged by his solicitor Peter Shields.

He has appealed his conviction on four grounds, including that the verdict of murder was “unreasonable”, because the jury was incorrectly directed about evidence relating to blood found in the boot of Mrs Baden-Clay’s four-wheel-drive.

“A miscarriage of justice occurred because the jury should have been, but was not, directed that the presence of the deceased’s blood in a motor vehicle was only relevant if the jury was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the presence of the blood was attributable to an injury sustained to the deceased’s body on the evening of 19 April 2012, or the morning of 20 April 2012,” the application reads.

Baden-Clay has also claimed that presiding judge Justice John Byrne misdirected the jury about the injuries which appeared on his face on the morning he reported his wife missing, as well as evidence relating to the discovery of Mrs Baden-Clay’s body on the banks of Kholo Creek at Anstead.

“The trial judge erred in law in not directing the jury that they needed to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the appellant placed the body of the deceased at Kholo Creek in order to use such a finding as post-offence conduct going to guilt,” the application says.

“The trial judge erred in leaving to the jury that the appellant attempted to disguise marks on his face by marking razor cuts.”

The prosecution alleged Baden-Clay cut his right cheek with a razor in a failed attempt to disguise the scratch marks his wife had left on his face while fighting for her life.

Baden-Clay has maintained the injuries on his face were shaving cuts, but four forensic experts told his trial the abrasions were more consistent with fingernail scratches.

Baden-Clay’s trial, and his eventual conviction, was one of the biggest news events of 2014.

The father-of-three wept and shook violently after the seven men and five women of the jury delivered their guilty verdict.

His three young daughters with Allison, who are now being cared for by her parents, were not in court to hear the jury foreman declare their father guilty of their mother’s murder.

It is the latest crushing development for her distraught fiance Aaron Leeson-Woolley and the Scott family which had gathered in her home town this week for her planned wedding today.

The development comes after police divers recovered a laptop from a canal just a few kilometres from where her car was dumped.

Police and forensic officers process the scene where the body was found. Picture: Chris McKeen

Witnesses have given chilling ­accounts of seeing a man dump a laptop in a canal after pulling up in a white ute similar to the police ­description of one seized at the home of Stephanie Scott’s alleged killer.

Two truck drivers then watched the man, with a baseball cap and sunglasses on, run back to the ute and speed off towards Leeton, a few minutes drive away.

The waterway is just a few kilometres from where the 26-year-old teacher’s red Mazda 3 was dumped in a wheat field.

The discovery came as police continued their search for Ms Scott. Picture: Chris McKeen

Paul Halls and Brendan Lyons had been working in a shed on Griffith Rd, Leeton, on Easter Sunday when they saw the man stop by the road dotted with farm houses and dispose of the computer just before 4pm.

After hearing about Ms Scott’s ­alleged murder on Wednesday morning, the men contacted police and gave a description of the unidentified man and the white Toyota Hilux ute.

A team of police divers from Sydney returned to the murky, 2m deep channel yesterday where they recovered a small laptop with a red cover.

It looked similar to those issued to teachers in some parts of NSW, but police were not immediately able to say if it belonged to Ms Scott.

Mr Halls said after dumping the laptop the man ran back to his car, did a U-turn and sped off towards Leeton.

Mr Halls said the vehicle was similar to an image police released yesterday in their appeal for information about Mr Stanford’s movements on Sunday, the day Ms Scott was last seen alive.

“We actually thought he was up to no good. I saw him run down the embankment and then drive back towards town,” Mr Lyons said.

“We rang the police on Wednesday when we heard over the radio what happened.”

The white utility seized by police.

Town mourns murdered teacher

Police divers search an irrigation channel. Picture: AAP/David Moir

Ms Scott’s red Mazda was found on Thursday morning abandoned by the edge of a wheat field on a rural property about 8km from Leeton near the road to Griffith.

Yesterday, Mr Lyons said he had seen a man walking along Griffith Rd towards Leeton on Monday morning.

He said the man, wearing a backpack and T-shirt, closely resembled an image of Mr Stanford’s identical twin brother, who lives in Adelaide.

Stephanie Scott: A friend, a fiancee, a daughter, a teacher …

Messages to murdered Leeton teacher Stephanie Scott continue to grow at the tribute site on the fenceline of Leeton High School. Photo: Chris McKeen

Messages to murdered Leeton teacher Stephanie Scott continue to grow at the tribute site on the fenceline of Leeton High School. Photo: Chris McKeen

The couple on holiday together. Picture: Facebook

Stephanie and fiance Aaron. Picture: Facebook

Ms Scott vanished from Leeton High School on Easter Sunday after going into work to finish some lesson plans for her replacement ahead of her wedding, which was supposed to take place today.

School cleaner Vincent Stanford was arrested on Wednesday night and charged with the popular schoolteacher’s murder.

Police will allege they found blood in the back of Mr Stanford’s car and pictures of a burnt body on his camera.

Volunteer rescue crews continued line searches around Leeton yesterday in the hope of finding any clues that might lead them to Ms Scott’s remains.

Meanwhile, her family is preparing to hold a community picnic at Mountford Park in Leeton today in Stephanie’s honour to “celebrate what should have been the happiest day of her life.”

TRAGIC POST ON EVE OF WEDDING

By Ashlee Mullany and Matthew Benns

SHE will always be his bride to be.

In one heartbreakingly simple photograph yesterday Aaron Leeson-Woolley summed up all that he has lost and the dreams that will never be.

Stephanie Scott, hair wet, stands with her back to the camera to show the embroidered message on her dressing gown: “Soon to be Mrs”.

All over town businesses have offered free accommodation, meals and support to the extended Scott family and friends.

When told a member of the Scott family was checking in to one local hotel, the owner refused to accept any payment.

More than $15,000 has been collected for Ms Scott’s family on the fundraising website GoFundMe

UPDATE 09/04/15

A school cleaner will be charged with the murder of missing bride-to-be Stephanie Scott after police allegedly found blood in a vehicle and a photograph on a phone of what is believed to be a burnt body.

Police arrested Vincent Stanford, 24, a cleaner at Leeton High School, at a house on Maiden Avenue in Leeton, in the NSW Riverina, about 7.30pm on Wednesday, and took him to Griffith police station for questioning.

Police began to home in on Mr Stanford on Wednesday after allegedly finding holes in his alibi. When they questioned him they allegedly found a number of items linked to Ms Scott’s death.

2 hours agoApril 08, 20157:04PM

MISSING bride-to-be Stephanie Scott did not show up to a Sunday evening dinner she’d arranged with fiance Aaron Leeson-Woolley just hours earlier.

The popular teacher was reported missing on Monday afternoon and fears are growing that she may have crashed her car in a remote location.

The family are talking to police and have called on the community to help with the search through social media, as well as hiring a private helicopter to search from the air.

Mr Leeson-Woolley made an emotional appearance on Channel 7 News, where he said he doesn’t believe his wife-to-be had cold feet.

“I just want her to be here so we can get on with the stuff we need to do,” he said. “I don’t know where to go from here, where to search or anything.”

Ms Scott had spent Saturday in their home town of Leeton buying cufflinks for the wedding, shopping and talking to her sister Robyn about the big day, which had been scheduled for this Saturday.

The engaged couple spent that evening apart, with Mr Leeson-Woolley staying the night at his parent’s home in Canowindra, three half hours drive away.

Stephanie Scott, with her mother. Picture: FacebookSource: Facebook

Stephanie Scott has gone missing a week before her wedding.Source: News Corp Australia

The couple texted each other back and forth at about 10am on Sunday to arrange a dinner that evening at Goodfella’s Restaurant.

After that, Ms Scott went to the school where she worked, Leeton High, where she was seen leaving some work for the teacher who would replace her before sending an email to the bus company hired for the wedding just before 1pm.

“There is no way she had cold feet. Something has happened to her”

After travelling back home Mr Leeson-Woolley didn’t see his fiancee all afternoon before she failed to show up for the dinner, booked for 8pm.

She has two sisters and two brothers and they are always in contact.’’

The community have responded to a call put out on facebook by another of Stephanie’s sisters Kim Scott, who asked for help with the search

“Please anyone available or who can make themselves available,” she wrote on Wednesday.

“Get yourselves to Leeton and the surrounding areas and check those roads.”

The post has already drawn nearly 200 shares, with people driving hundreds of kilometres to help with the search.

“I’ve driven between Wagga and Leeton (about 126km), stopping to drive down some random roads,” Missy Dempsey wrote, “A lot of them you need a 4WD though. I’m going to head back and search around Narrandera.”